Only YOU can take charge of your job search. Don't let rejection define you. Don't listen to all the chatter. Make a choice to put all that negative noise in a box, close the lid, tape it shut and put it on the shelf. It will be there waiting for you...if you choose to take it back down.

Here are five great articles I read this past week that can help you defeat the crippling doubt and move with passion and purpose toward your next gig.

Monday, February 24, 2014

As part of my research for a book, I interviewed many recruiters. And in one of them, with the head of recruiting for a technology company (we’ll call him “Joe” in this post), it was emphasized that the biggest problem for job seekers is the actual job interview process.Unfortunately, Joe frequently sees job seekers who have done all the right things to get to the interview, but then they blow it in their interviews.They get up to bat (the interview), but they strike out rather than hitting a home run.How does a job seeker avoid striking out? By following this 5-step process:1. Thoroughly Research the Company

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Struggling to find your significant other the perfect Valentine’s Day gift? If I may make a suggestion: woo a recruiter. Stop scratching your head and let me explain.Work-related stress is a leading cause of relationship squabbles. While landing your dream job won’t resolve all relationship woes, it will give you and your significant other one less thing to squabble over, and as a result, likely improve your relationship. So, do yourself and your loved one a favor this Valentine’s Day: woo a recruiter!So how do you do that? For insights from the trenches, we turned to popular recruiting site Recruitingblogs.com, and asked recruiters, “What should job seekers do to woo you?” Here’s what they had to say:

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

If you’re sending out résumés and not getting many calls to interview, there’s a good chance that your résumé is the problem. If you’re like most people, your résumé could use some work – and like most people, you’re probably not sure where to start. But you probably don’t need to start from scratch. You can often significantly improve your résumé by just making a handful of changes. Here are six small changes you can make that will have a big impact.1. Get rid of the objective.2. Add a profile section to the top of your résumé.3. Focus on work accomplishments, not job duties.Find out more about changes 1-3, changes 4-6, and the complete US News article

Monday, February 17, 2014

If your resume has made it into the ‘YES’ pile, then the first thing a company will do is a phone screening. The purpose of this is to test your communication skills, and to do a quick check of your skills and experience to determine if it’s worth bringing you in for an interview.

Here are six important tips that will make sure you ace your phone interview:

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Hiring managers are beginning to veer away from conventional methods of advertising job vacancies, and they are, instead, turning to social media to locate qualified candidates. Their weapon of choice? A little thing known as a hashtag. See how hashtags are a candidate’s best friend when it comes to finding a job in today’s digital age.This probably isn’t the first time that you’ve heard of conducting a job search on social media, and you’re probably a bit reluctant to give it a shot, too; because, really, how can a site like Twitter actually help you find your dream job? Surprisingly, it happens more often than not, and here is the success story of one social-savvy professional who got hired through Instagram, of all places.A great way to find relevant hashtags is to use Hashtagify.me, a free online service that allows users to search hashtags and verify their popularity on Twitter. This tool is useful for job seekers to see which hashtags are most effective to their job search efforts, and which aren’t. Simply type a hashtag into the search box and Hasttagify.me will generate a spiffy interactive diagram that also displays other hashtags that are closely related to the one you originally searched. Here is a list of 10 popular hashtags that job seekers are encouraged to follow during their job hunt:1. #JobSearch or #JobHunt2. #JobOpening3. #Hiring or #NowHiring

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Asking questions at the end of your interview is just as important as answering them. It reinforces your suitability as a candidate and gives you an invaluable opportunity to find out more about the role and the company you’re applying to.You’ve made it to the interview and you’ve prepared for all the questions they could possibly ask you. You shine in each one, remember what you want to say and really match your skills and experience to the company and the role. And then they ask whether you have any questions for them. This is where you can demonstrate that you’ve given it real thought by asking some good questions of your own and leaving a great final impression of your interview.The answer to this will tell you how they would really like to see you perform, and what areas you should be concentrating on. It also show you’re thinking ahead and want to do what’s best for the company as well as best for you.1) What challenges could I face in the first three months?2) Is there anything you would like to improve in your department and how could I help?

Friday, February 7, 2014

During a speaking engagement this week, I was asked this question by a collegiate clearly frightened by the possibility of graduating in May with no job prospects in sight:“How can I win when I know my resume is one of 100 the company will get for this one job?”My reply (knowing the short answer was probably not going to help without further discussion):“Your resume can’t suck.”No matter how good we think they are, statistically speaking, most resumes do suck. And within the first 6 seconds of review, 60% of those resumes are thrown away by Automatic Tracking Systems (ATS) or recruiters.Changing your resume from a “1 in 100” to the “1 in 10” that gets the interview, can be accomplished with relatively little effort. Here are the steps to build a truly great resume – and their theoretical impact (from the recruiter perspective) on how a resume moves through the decision-making process:

Thursday, February 6, 2014

1) Use keywords.

2) Network and use your connections.

3) Keep it simple.

Avoid graphics and logos and other things that may “clog” how an applicant tracking system reads your resume, Zupan suggests. ( I see lots of resumes that you can't read when they come into the ATS because they get all messed up from the fancy formatting.)

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Looking for a job or seeking to hire employees in 2014? The internet is full of advice, though separating the reputable and informative sites from the misleading sources often takes time and extensive effort.To save you the trouble, below, you’ll find a comprehensive list of some of best career, interviewing, job search and recruiting websites. These are long standing sources that are consistently updated, have shown significant expertise in the field and can be readily accessed through a multitude of social media channels.

Monday, February 3, 2014

You know the feeling. After hours searching for potential job leads, you find a role that looks perfect. Everything you'd been looking for in your next career move. You can hardly wait to fire off your application and progress through the interview stages...Except that disappointment is often what greets job seekers next. Rejection is never easy to take. But understanding why you've been rejected - and what you might be able to do better next time around - is a key step in moving on. So for that reason I'm most grateful to Heather R. Huhman for sharing this guest post, aimed squarely at helping you to understand - and overcome - setbacks in your job search.

You’re feeling lucky. You found an opening for a job you would love to have, your resume made it through screening, and you had a decent interview — but somehow you still received a rejection email. What went wrong?

With the national unemployment rate resting at an uneasy 7.9 percent, it’s safe to say the job climate is highly competitive. In fact, 29 percent of candidates never even hear back from a hiring manager after applying for a position. While you may have made it far in the hiring process, there are many reasons you weren’t considered to be a perfect match.Here are seven common reasons you didn’t land the job:5. You didn’t fit the culture.1. Your qualifications didn’t quite match up7. There wasn’t actually a job in the first place.3. Your interviewing skills held you back.Read more about these 4 reasons, all 7 reasons, and the complete article.